MENTAL HEALTH: THE CRISIS AROUND US
Mental health is a 2-fold issue. We are concerned for our patients and we are concerned for our colleagues, as this issue demonstrates in a balance of articles between patients and colleagues. Without our colleagues, we cannot provide the care needed by our patients, and our patients-the general public-have increasing needs.
Anyone who watched or read about the 2021 Olympics now knows what the "twisties" are because of Simone Biles. When a world-class athlete withdraws from events, people notice. Her colleagues instantly knew what the "twisties" were and we quickly learned it was the disconnection of the mental being with the physical being that gymnasts and others sometimes experience that could lead not just to a poor performance but also to permanent physical harm. Having the courage to back away from the mental challenge created a new view of the value of mental health.
In part, this publicity was important because it highlighted the need to improve care for people with behavioral health needs. Simone Biles was supported by her team, but how many people find limited or no resources? Clinicians, in turn, are affected and often experience moral distress when they can't fully meet patient needs, and their leaders are concerned for them.
Organizations worldwide have a shared concern: the mental health and well-being of their employees. This is as true for health care organizations as it is for financial organizations or manufacturing organizations. In health care organizations, mental health issues are of particular concern across all disciplines and especially in nursing and in medicine where patient outcomes can be impacted. As Jim Clifton and Jim Harter1 point out in their new book, Wellbeing at Work, every workplace in the world needs more resilient employees. The recent emphasis on simply finding employees has somewhat overshadowed the pressing need that has grown over recent years-the mental well-being of people. The recent economic and pandemic turmoil only complicated the existing situation.1
The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine Consensus study on clinician well-being was released in 2019.2 This study emphasized the importance of a comprehensive approach to well-being that included the individual clinicians and their work systems. This is the greatest opportunity for health care organizations when considering the context in which patient care is provided and whether it contributes or inhibits individual clinician well-being.
Leaders and organizations can either thrive and help people in their organizations to do so also or they can merely survive an event. As McKinsey & Company point out, employees and employers have differing perspectives on workplace mental health, including workplace stigma.3 Having mental health support is especially important from a recruitment perspective because McKinsey & Company found that 60% of Gen Z employees surveyed said mental health resources were a determining factor in selecting an employer and 57% said they were important in deciding to stay with an employer.
Although numerous challenges exist for health care to provide the increasing demand for mental health services, leaders also need to consider the other aspect of traumatic events, including the responses some people have had to the pandemic and the societal unrest we have experienced in 2020-2021. Tedeschi, Moore, and colleagues refer to our struggles as evolving into a different version of ourselves, a form of Kintsugi, which is the restoration of broken pottery into something new: "For many, the hardest times in our life propel us onto a trajectory of growth."4(p15)
This growth that occurs after traumatic events occurs in one or more of 5 areas:
* Personal strength;
* Relationships with others;
* New possibilities;
* Appreciation for life; and
* Spiritual and existential change.
What is important to remember is that this growth occurs throughout the world. It is not a Western culture phenomenon. It isn't restricted to one gender versus another. It has the potential to have profound effects, and it is the experience of going through the trauma that generates the growth, not the triumph of having made it through the trauma. That is why we also bring information to you about posttraumatic growth.
This Nursing Administration Quarterly issue contains articles about the concerns we as leaders must have about the crisis within our profession; it also contains articles that offer hope for how we can deal with what lies ahead as we consider how to help our organizations and other non-health care organizations manage the growing concern for well-being and for the mental health of our clinicians and adequate systems to support the care of patients.
-Patricia S. Yoder-Wise, EdD, RN, NEA-BC, ANEF, FAONL, FAAN
Professor and Dean Emerita
Texas Tech University Health Sciences
Center School of Nursing
Vice President
The Nurses Legacy Institute
President
The Wise Group
Lubbock, Texas
-Sharon H. Pappas, PhD, RN, NEA-BC, FAAN
Chief Nurse Executive
Emory Healthcare
Atlanta, Georgia
REFERENCES